Move to push abstractors from Records Building causes Dallas County officials’ tempers to flare

Tempers flared Tuesday as the Dallas County Commissioners Court heard debate over County Clerk John Warren's request to evict real estate abstractors from a Records Building room they have long used rent-free.

Tensions erupted among Dallas County officials this morning as they wrestled with County Clerk John Warren’s request to force private employees from a room they’ve used rent-free for decades.

Judge Clay Jenkins, who presides over Commissioners Court meetings, twice banged his gavel to restore order. One of those came when Warren tried to talk over Jenkins as the judge tried to ask the county clerk a question.

Warren yelled at and made critical comments about Commissioner Maurine Dickey, who asked several questions about Warren’s request to remove the occupants of Records Building Room 333.

“If I raised the dead, you’d say somebody else did it,” Warren told Dickey as he first approached the commissioners Tuesday morning.

Commissioners were scheduled to vote on the matter Tuesday morning, but Jenkins pulled the proposed court order from the agenda. He said commissioners would decide the matter next week, but it was still discussed Tuesday.

A 1947 Texas appeals court ruling found that abstractors serve a vital public interest and that in many cases, counties can’t charge them rent for space they use to access and copy records.

But Warren says the abstractors in Room 333 can access whatever they need online because he’s uploaded 166 years worth of records to a county website. The room is also where Warren keeps a backup set of microfilm records. He said abstractors leave the room in disarray and the microfilm disorganized.

“Nobody asked me if it’s OK to use this space,” Warren said. “They should have.”

Abstractors and a representative for a title company say that the county has a long, valid history in providing the space to people who spend their days delving through court records. They say some of the online records aren’t legible, so abstractors have to turn to the microfilm.

They also say many of the records needed to clear land sales, like plats and probate court files, aren’t online. They argue that proximity is vital to make sure real estate transactions across the county aren’t held up.

“The value of being able to work in the Records Building has been recognized by everybody,” said Robert Cohen, who represented Trinity Abstract.

Cohen said that plat maps aren’t online. Warren argued they are. Faced with conflicting information, Dickey questioned Warren about who was right.

“I don’t think anybody would know more than I would about how my office operates,” Warren said.

At one point, Dickey asked Warren to bring a tablet computer to the dais and show her that the plat maps are online.

Warren, who is elected to office like commissioners, said he didn’t work for Dickey.

“You can go to the website and check that,” he told her.

Dickey said Warren shouldn’t be afraid to pull the maps up.

“I’m not going to sit here and take direction from you,” Warren said, interrupting her.

Dickey thean commented on Warren’s attitude as Price talked over her.

“Good for you,” Price said to Warren.

Warren briefly turned to other county officials in the audience.

“I don’t give a damn,” he said.

When someone from the audience handed Warren a tablet computer, he approached the dais and handed it to Jenkins.

“If you want to pass this down to (Dickey), you can,” Warren said.

Warren told Dickey that her questions amounted to calling him a lair. After Dickey briefly looked at the tablet, she told Cohen she was disappointed he said the plat maps weren’t online.

Cohen said he had tried finding them on the county website but couldn’t locate them.

At one point, Dickey asked if Cohen and Warren could stand side-by-side at a podium so they could settle the conflicting accounts of the online maps. Price, who does not preside over the meetings but is its longest-serving commissioner, objected and began to talk over Dickey.

Jenkins again banged his gavel. He told Cohen to sit down and to return to the podium only when asked.

Warren provided commissioners with pictures of the room that he said was messy and unkempt. The pictures showed drawers of records partially opened and microfilm cassettes strewn about cabinets. It also showed old computer monitors, toner boxes, a cup from a restaurant Dickey’s family owns and a fan cluttered atop microfilm cabinets.

Cohen said the room is open to anyone to use. But Warren called the abstractors “squatters” who prevent him from fulfilling his responsibility to keep organized records.

Jenkins said he wants to hear from more title company representatives before next week’s vote. He said the matter comes down to a decision between providing public space to people who routinely use county records and giving the county clerk room he says he needs to secure records.

“That’s really where we’re at,” he said.

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